A 63-year-old man is suspected of embarking on a deadly rampage across southern Germany, murdering four members of his own family before taking his own life.
The Grisly Discoveries
The tragedy began to unfold on Tuesday when a caregiver discovered the body of a woman in an apartment in the city of Reutlingen. Police were immediately notified. Suspecting the woman's brother, officers rushed to his home in the nearby town of Pfullingen.
There, they made a grim discovery: the bodies of the 63-year-old man and his 57-year-old wife, both with fatal gunshot wounds. A firearm was found next to them. The investigation then led authorities to the man's business premises in the St Johann municipality, where they found his two sons, aged 27 and 29, also deceased from gunshot wounds.
A Trail of Violence Across Three Locations
According to local media reports, the sequence of events was chilling. The gunman is believed to have first shot his two adult sons at his business in St Johann. He then travelled to Reutlingen, where he allegedly killed his 60-year-old sister in her apartment. Finally, he returned to the family home in Pfullingen, where he shot his wife before turning the weapon on himself.
Police confirmed that the 57-year-old wife is not believed to be the biological mother of the two slain sons. The alleged perpetrator was reportedly a hunter, though authorities are still working to determine if the weapon used was legally possessed.
An Ongoing Investigation
Detectives have stated that there is no current indication of a third party being involved. However, key questions remain unanswered. A police statement to German outlet Bild revealed, 'So far, it's not even clear when the four relatives were killed. We are still at the very beginning of the investigation.'
The exact timeline of the murder spree remains unclear, as the bodies were only discovered on Tuesday. The investigation is ongoing as authorities work to piece together the motive and precise chronology of this devastating family tragedy.
